As a HIAS board member and former HIAS client, Genia Brin initiated an idea for HIAS to establish a social networking site for Russian Jewish emigres to this country, called myStory. This was established on the 40th anniversary of the Soviet Jewry movement and has recently been launched.
She realized that the more than 400,000 Russian Jewish emigres that HIAS brought to this country have a commonality of backgrounds, history, culture and immigration stories and that they needed a platform to share these and be in touch with one another. From this idea the bi-lingual Russian/English social networking site, http://mystory.hias.org/, was developed. Today, Russian Jewish emigres can post their stories, photos, and art on this site (with music and video capability coming soon), exchange ideas, and contact one another to form an on-line community. Most importantly, since this online community is sponsored by HIAS, it furthers their integration into the American Jewish community at large.
